JOSHUA TREE (AP) — A couple who faced child abuse charges after their three children were found living in a squalid shack in the Southern California desert have been reunited with the youngsters — and the family has a new home.
A judge in San Bernardino County ruled Thursday that Daniel Panico and Mona Kirk can bring home the children, who’ll still remain under county supervision.
The children had lived in a plywood shack in Joshua Tree for four years before they were removed in February.
(credit: Sheriff’s Deputies Morongo Basin.)
The parents pleaded not guilty to child abuse and the charges have been reduced to misdemeanor child endangerment.
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Neighbors said the parents were only guilty of being poor. A crowdfunding campaign in March raised enough money to buy them a furnished home in Joshua Tree.
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